‘Michael’ overtakes weekend box office

Lionsgate’s Michael opened at No. 1 this weekend, pushing past The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with a domestic debut headed toward about $95 million. (deadline.com) (boxofficemojo.com) Deadline reported the Michael Jackson biopic made $39.5 million on Friday, a figure that included $12.6 million in Thursday previews. The trade said the film was tracking toward roughly $95 million in North America and more than $206 million worldwide. (deadline.com 1) (deadline.com 2) The Numbers listed Michael at $39.9 million domestic and $58.4 million worldwide in its early running totals, while Box Office Mojo showed the film opening wide on April 24 through Lionsgate. (the-numbers.com) (boxofficemojo.com) The film arrived after forecasts climbed sharply during the week. Deadline’s April 21 preview had Michael in the $65 million to $70 million domestic range before updated weekend estimates moved far higher. (deadline.com) That put Michael on pace to pass the biggest domestic starts for recent music biopics. Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter both framed the opening as larger than Straight Outta Compton’s $60.2 million and Bohemian Rhapsody’s $51 million. (deadline.com) (hollywoodreporter.com) The movie stars Jaafar Jackson as his uncle, with Antoine Fuqua directing and John Logan writing. Deadline said Lionsgate is distributing domestically while Universal is handling most international markets. (deadline.com) (boxofficemojo.com) Internationally, Deadline said Michael opened across 82 markets and had already built a $31.7 million offshore total by Friday morning, with No. 1 starts in markets including France, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Italy. (deadline.com) The rollout followed a long path to release. Variety reported earlier in April that the production underwent reshoots costing at least $10 million after material involving child-abuse allegations was removed from the film’s ending. (variety.com) For Lionsgate, the weekend gave the studio its biggest opening in years. For theaters, it turned a late-April frame into a Michael Jackson box-office weekend. (hollywoodreporter.com) (deadline.com)